


A Little Indulgence

by OnlyOneWoman



Series: Black Sails Domestic Fluff [1]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Gunn is annoyed, Billy Bones is a mother hen, Caretaking, Gunnbones, Insufferable Husbands, James Flint is bad at feelings, John Silver is a pouty puppy, John Silver is unused to be indulged, Kind of ruined vacation, M/M, Mancold, No smut or sex at all, Pirate Husbands, Pouting, Puppy eyes, Sappy, Sickness, silverflint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 02:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8232418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyOneWoman/pseuds/OnlyOneWoman
Summary: Very short story with no angst, modern day era. Flint and Silver are going on a vacation to visit their close friends Billy and Ben, when Silver and Ben catch a cold and have to endure being taken cared of by their husbands who have VERY different views on how to handle the situation.Yep, that's the plot :)Since I know how much thewalruscaptain loves the "asshole pirate husbands", I simply have to give this silly little piece to her, beacuse it's actually my first story with "Silverflint" as main characters.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewalruscaptain (nightly_division)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightly_division/gifts).



”Billy? Billy!”  
”I’m coming! What is it, babe?”  
  
Loud, running steps and a wet trail from the shower. Billy hoovered over the bed, tovel only partly covering his hips and his hair dribbling water.  
  
”Move! Christ, I’m not dying and stop soaking the bed.”  
  
Ben’s husband was a giant. A clumsy and currently wet giant with worried eyes and even more worried voice.  
  
”How are you feeling? Is the fever any better? Do you need tea or anything? Or are you hungry? I can…"  
”Billy.”  
”Yes, babe?”  
" _Breathe._ I shouldn’t have screamed for you, since you seem to believe I’m about to die if I do. I only need you to open the window a little. I’d do it myself if I wasn’t so goddamn tired.”  
  
Ben really didn’t feel well at all. The cold had hit him badly and he’d woke up with high fever and so tired he could barely lift his head. He blamed the mother with the three snotty-nosed kids who thought it was a good idea to bring virus on six legs to a company party – and the host who didn’t have the balls to tell her it was adult only. He also blamed his boss, who’d said it was a _very important_ party with _very important costumers_ that required every employee to show up. And he most definately blamed his boss for not telling that one of the very important costumers apparently could bring her kids anyway – and that the little monsters had every right to run around and cough the employees in their faces.  
  
Billy opened the window and began to dress, still wet from the shower and Ben smiled.  
  
”You don’t have time to dry before you dress? It’s Friday and your day off, honey.”  
”Oh _shit_!”  
”What?”  
”Shit, shit, _shit_!”  
”Could you please just tell me what’s happening, Billy?”  
”John and James are coming over today.”  
”No, that can’t be right… I’m sure it’s next week.”  
”I thought so too, but my calender says otherwise. Fuck! They’ll be here within half an hour and we can’t just ask them to drive back almost forty miles! And you’re ill and…”  
”Calm the fuck _down_ , Billy! Just call John and check, before you work yourself up to a panic attack, okay?”  
”Yeah, I’ll call him straight away.”  
  
When the phone was finally picked up, it wasn’t John who answered.  
  
”Hello, Billy, I was just about to call you.”  
”James? Where’s John? He’s driving?”  
”No, I am. He’s asleep. He doesn’t feel well.”  
”Why? What’s happened?”  
”He was a bit tired when we left and now, just as we have about twenty minutes to go, he says he feels feverish.”  
_”I do.”_  
  
An annoyed voice filled in, sounding unusually peevish. James sighed.  
  
”So, I guess we have to get into a hotel or someting, since we can’t go back in this traffic and John needs to rest.”  
”Don’t be silly. Of course you’re still coming.”  
”And infect you and Ben? Don’t think so. Damn back luck…”  
”Look, the reason I called you, is because Ben’s sick too. The flu or someting and to be honest, we both completely forgot you’d be coming. Just get over here. I have to take care of Ben anyway.”  
”So you mean that instead of a nice holiday with friends, you and I are to take care of our sick, whiny husbands? In the same house?”  
_”I’m not whiny, you asshole! I have a fucking cold!”_  
  
Billy choked a laughter.  
  
”Well, do you prefer taking care of him alone at some expensive hotel, watching telly alone and live on take-aways until he feels better?”  
”Not particularly, no.”  
”Then you come here and let our contagious spouses sleep in mine and Ben’s bedroom, while you take the guestroom and I the sofa. At least we’ll get to have some barable company until they feel better, and we can share their ridiculous requests and save time and effort.”  
”I’m very tempted to taked that offer, Billy.”  
_”What offer, James? What are you plotting? Let me talk to Billy! And we need to stop for some water.”_  
  
Billy could almost hear James trying not to freak out and the restrained voice was back in the phone:  
  
”We’re coming. Please tell me you have coffee?”  
”Plenty.”  
”Thank God. See you in twenty.”  
  
Later, Billys side of the bed was occupied by a feverish, snotty-nosed John who looked very miserable, while Ben put the cover over his head and tried to get back to sleep. Meanwhile, Billy and James finally had some lunch, including strong coffee, oatmeal and eggs. James frowned.  
  
”Well, this is also a way to spend your vaccation, I guess. He’ll do anything he can to annoy me, especially now.”  
”Why? You had a fight?”  
”Not as much a fight as me telling him he was overly sensitive this morning when he said he felt too tired to go.”  
”You told him he was _overly sensitive_? Five years of marriage and you don’t know better than that? Remind me never to take anymore marriage counsils from you.”  
”You don’t really seem to need them anyway. You fuss over Ben like a mother hen. It’s ridiculous.”  
  
Billy laughed. He’d been friends with James, and later John, for years now and some things never changed. When it came to show affections, James sometimes was about as lively as a statue.  
  
”I admit I fuss over him, but I can’t help it, James. Ben’s got these big, blue puppy eyes when he’s sick and I’m weak.”  
”Disgusting. John is a bloody pain in the ass when he’s sick. Whining and complaining like he’s dying. He does it only to annoy me.”  
”Aren’t you a little unfair now? He really didin’t look well and he had quite high fever.”  
”He was fine when we left and if he hadn’t worked himself up like that, the fever would be down in no time.”  
  
Billy just shook his head.  
  
”You know, the only people who don’t have to fuss over their ill spouses, are doctors and nurses. They have too much deadly deceases to compare with, so it’s only natural for them not to get alarmed over a little flu. But the rest of us signed up to be ridiculously concerned and fussy when our spouses catch a cold.”  
”We did? I don’t recall that particular vow at our wedding, and not at yours either.”  
”Um… ’in sickness and in health’? You skipped that part?”  
”It didn’t say anything about acting like a mother hen and give in to every litte pouting and whining.”  
  
A tired voice from upstairs interrupted their talk.  
  
”Billy?”  
”Coming, hun!”  
  
James rose his eyebrows when Billy immediately left his chair and Billy looked amused.  
  
”What?”  
”You’re getting _so_ bossed around.”  
”So? My baby’s sick and I make as much of a fuss as I want to.”  
”Easy for you, since your baby isn’t exaggerating like a spoiled child.”  
”I know John’s a pain in the ass sometimes, James, but now you’re just unfair. When was the last time someone besides you cared for him, huh?”  
”Don’t pull that crap. He’s a grown man, even if it’s hard to believe that now, and he should know by now how much I care.”  
”Yeah? Then what’s so hard about showing it?”  
  
Before James came up with an answer, Billy left to check on Ben. James rose too, not really sure about what he should do, so he went to the bedroom as well, but remained outside the door, listeing to Billy’s concearned voice:  
  
”Anything you want, babe. Which flavour?”  
”Doesn’t matter really, as long as it’s cold and has another taste than sickness. Have such a bad taste in my mouth, it’s ridiculous.”  
”Some juice, perhaps?”  
”We’re out.”  
”I’ll go shopping. What kind of juice do you want?”  
”Orange is fine.”  
”Orange it is. You want something else? Ice cream?”  
  
James shook his head. Billy really was so pussy-whipped and worst of all: he encouraged it!  
  
”Don’t know…  Just pick something you know I like.”  
”Alright. John, how about you?”  
  
That was it. If Billy insisted on valet his own husband, that was his choice, but no one fussed over James husband but James himself, thank you very much. He stepped inside and glared a little at Billy before he went to his puny poodle of a husband.  
  
”Feeling any better?”  
”Not really. Fever’s still quite high.”  
  
As if he didn’t quite belive him, James put a hand on John’s forehead. Alright, he clearly had fever, maybe even high fever… And he was pale, his eyes were wide and he managed to look very fragile with the cover drawn all the way up to his nosetip.  
  
”You want me to get you anything?”  
”Um… Some ice cream would be nice.”  
”Alright. I’ll get you some. Try to sleep.”  
  
He turned around to leave for ice cream.  
  
”James?”  
”What?”  
”I want a hug.”  
  
Two big, blue eyes and a ridiculous nosetip over the cover. Messy curls all over the pillow. James leaned down to hug his sweet, whiny husband. He actually was really warm. Maybe some ice cream would be good…  
  
”Which flavour do you want?”  
”Blueberry vanilla or raspberry.”  
”I’ll see what I find.”  
  
When they left the room, Billy had a hard time not to smile. James looked like a mix between a Donald Duck followed by a rain cloud and a Monday morning in November, but if Billy knew his old friend right, he’d drive to the next town to get the right ice cream for his husband, if necessairy. Because _of course_ Billy was the only one getting pussy whipped around here… Not James, oh no.  
  
Billy and James spent the rest of the day, bringing ice cream, cold drinks, chicken soup, tea and hugs to their sick husbands. Billy all concearned – Ben eventually gave up on telling him to cool down, since it was a little too much to fight a bad cold and a fussy husband at the same time – and James with a constant look of irritation over his face. Clearly he wasn’t as taken with John’s puppy eyes and pale complexion as Billy was with Ben’s. When James and Billy sat down for dinner, he complained.  
  
”He’s always like this, Billy. It’s just a little cold and he acts like he has TB or something.”  
”I think he’s adorable. Laying all pale and fragile with his cover over the nose…”  
”You don’t know how irritating it gets after a while. I mean, whenever he happens to burn his tongue on the coffee or gets a splinter in his finger, he goes all pouting and whining. Just two weeks ago, when he went to the dentist to fix a hole, he lay in fetus position for the rest of the day.”  
”And as the good husband you are, you spooned him and asked very gently if he needed something, what he wanted for dinner, if he had enough painkillers and so on?”  
  
The raised eyebrows was answer enough and Billy buried his face in his hands.  
  
”For fucks _sake_ , James! You above all should know how unused John was to be treated well before he met you. He _needs_ to be fussed with, that’s why he’s pouting and seriously, James, if Ben don’t make a fuss when I’ve been to the dentist and have a swollen jaw, I’d feel right down hurt.”  
”You mean John doesn’t think I care, just because I don’t act like he’s on the brink of death every time he coughs?”  
”Why are you talking about him like that?”  
”Like what?”  
”Like he’s an inconvenience.”  
”He’s not and I never said that.”  
”No, but you act like you think it’s unnecessairy to be a little extra kind to him.”  
”I just don’t like how he’s behaving, that’s all. And I don’t get why he does it.”  
”Because that’s the only way he can get you to indulge him a little.”  
”Oh, so now I’m a bad husband?”  
”I didn’t say that. You’re just unused to act ridiculous for someone and he’s unused to have someone who fuss over him when he feels miserable. I know it’s just a little cold, don’t for a moment think I’m on my way to call the ER, but no matter how irritated Ben gets when I fuss over him, I know he’d feel neglected if I didn’t.”  
  
James silently swallowed a bite of his roast beef.  
  
”So you basically tell me to treat John like a damstrel in distress for as long as he’s sick?”  
”Absolutely.”  
”You don’t think he’d be suspicious if I did?”  
”Of course he will, but a husband really doesn’t need an excuse to indulge his husband. And I bet he’ll get well quicker, simply because at some point all the care will get on his nerves.”  
”Is that how you do with Ben?”  
”Uh-huh. Works every time. He’s practically ready to kill me and he’ll feel much better soon, from pure irritation.”  
”That just doesn’t make any sense, Billy.”  
”Maybe not, but it’s still working.”  
  
After dinner, all four of them were crouched down in Ben’s and Billy’s bed, watching a movie – Billy had Ben in his lap to make room for them all and John had his head on James’ arm. James still wasn’t sure about Billy’s ideas of indulgement, but as the evening went on, the grumpy redhead discovered some interesting things about his pouting, silly husband:  
  
He loved Ghibli movies. John Silver, who hadn’t even went to a Disney movie on cinemas as a kid, absolutely loved _Howl’s Moving Castle_ , _From Up on Poppy Hill, Spirited Away_ and _Tales from Earthsea._ Ben and Billy, being the old-fashioned anti digital movie nerds they were, had a quite impressive DVD collection and the shelf with Japanese anime movies seemed to attract James’ ridiculous poodle of a husband.  
  
He loved to be all crouched up in James’ lap, covered in blankets and yes, _maybe_ James’ tanned, aussie husband really _was_ freezing a little more in general than English people, since he’d spent his first twentyfive years in southern Australia. _Maybe_ he really did feel better just by having James bringing him tea, ice cream and hugging him every other minute. _Maybe_ those big, blue eyes weren’t only manipulative, but actually a little bit innocent as well. And _maybe_ James thought it felt a bit nice to make John feel good with such simple efforts.  
  
The small gestures James at first had dismissed as signs of giving after for silly expectations of getting away with childish behavior, gave John’s eyes another kind of softness. Not the looks James recognized as ”I want something from you” or ”I’ve made something stupid, please remember I’m adorable and don’t be mad”, but something he usually saw in Billy and Ben when they looked at each other while being insufferable and sappy. The ”I can’t believe how lucky I am to have you” look.  
  
Because maybe John’s pouting while being sick, was his only way to get that kind of love declaration James was so hopelessly bad at putting sappy words and actings to, and therefor usually draped them in short ”stick to the facts” talks. And maybe that was James' way, not because he didn’t want to indulge his adorable husband, but because he’d never dared to be that silly with anyone, not even the man he’d been married to for years and loved more than anything.  
  
So, instead of visiting museums and parks, James used one of his weeks off tending to his actually quite sick husband by acting like a mother hen. After some days John, much like Ben, had the look of ”fluff my pillow once more, and I’ll choke you with it”, in his face everytime James asked him something. Billy acted like he was totally unaware of how annoyed Ben was and on Tuesday morning, James woke up hearing low voices outside the guestroom:  
  
”Sch! Keep your voice down, John, or you’ll wake up Florence Nightingale one and two! If I as much as _see_ another cup of herbal tea, I’m getting a divorce.”  
”I’ll be happy to company you. Do you have any bacon?”  
”How should I know? Have been cooped up with you for four days, haven’t I? God, I want some pancakes.”  
”Blueberry pancakes?”  
”If we’re lucky.”  
  
Billy, who slept on a mattress on the floor in the guestroom, smiled widely at James, whispering when their annoyed husbands were out of hearing:  
  
”Guess who’re sleeping in the rest of the vaccation?”  
  
James answered with a grin and they both went back to sleep.  
  
**THE END**


End file.
